給新手創業者,關於募資的 5 個提醒

Joseph Chan, Partner (詹德弘 / 合夥人)

加入 AppWorks 前,於 CID (華威國際) 服務長達 11 年,協助 CID 完成兩支基金共 5.75 億美金的募集,長期負責該集團共 14 支創投基金的投資人關係與營運管理,並帶領團隊完成 CID 自有基金管理系統的建置,曾評估過的創投案件超過 200 個。加入 CID 前,曾服務於台灣少數 Nasdaq 掛牌公司和信超媒體,擔任網路與系統部門主管。台大農機碩士,日語是母語。

對初次創業的新手創業者來說,最大的挑戰之一,就是在首度募資時,如何就公司的價值以及股權,與投資人討論出合理且公平的價格。在台灣或是東南亞等市場,創投生態系的發展仍在相對早期,不管是創業者或投資人兩端,在新創募資這件事情上,仍存在許多迷思與誤解。對某些新手創業者,尤其是擁有知名大企業工作經驗,或是頂尖學經歷的創業者,可能會把這個過程,視為一場建立在賽局理論的競爭——認為新創與創投雙方,必定是一方贏、一方輸的零和結果。然而,根據我過往的經驗,創業者抱著這種想法與投資人溝通,只會導致雙輸,每個人,都該先放下自我與成見。

在與潛在投資人溝通時,若創業者過度優化自己的利益,將導致什麼結果?有些投資人,可能選擇直接掉頭走人,讓募資過程變得更艱難,隨之而來更糟的情況,是創業者可能引入一些不適合的個人投資人,但對創業者所處的產業、相關的商業模式等,只有粗淺的認知,當創業者與新創面臨真正的關鍵時刻,無法提供太多實質的幫助。

若在募資流程一開始,就能為雙方建立起公平的基調,將更有助於達成協議。雖然新創首度募資,似乎是一個標準流程,但它能在長期的法務與財務等面向上,為新創與投資人關係奠定重要的基礎,而這對創業者來說至關重要,以下是我的幾個提醒:

1. 尋找一位創業者導師

對新手創業者來說,應該去做最有價值的一件事,或者說,在創業時就該做的第一件事,就是為自己尋找一位具有創業經驗的導師。這樣的導師,走過你正在走的路、經歷過你正在經歷的事,並知道如何與早期投資人訂定投資協議 (Term Sheet) ,這絕對是創業旅程中最給力的貴人。在尋找客戶時,導師可以成為幫你大力宣傳與背書的推廣者,而在尋找潛在支持者時,又可以幫你篩選適合的對象。

請記得,不只是投資人要對投資的新創進行盡責調查 (Due Diligence),被投資的創業者,也該對投資人做這件事。因為並非所有投資人都一樣,都是好的投資人、都能站在雙方皆有利的立場協助新創,創業者有可能在簽約後的某一個時刻,才赫然發現有些投資人名不符實或言行不一。

這就是為什麼新手創業者需要讓對的人陪伴在身邊。他可以是創業者的導師,甚至也可以成為早期的天使投資人,在引導創業者了解正確的投資人關係上,可以發揮不可或缺的關鍵作用。透過尋找曾有與創投募資經驗,或是參與加速器所媒合具有創業經驗的導師,可以讓新手創業者更輕鬆、更準確的掌握募資過程。如果創業者有幸找到這樣的導師,他可以協助你避免誤踩募資的地雷、制定無效的策略、做出錯誤的行為,並了解如何訂出最適合且公平的投資協議,為往後的創業旅程打下穩固的基礎。

2. 注意募資的時機

對任何啟動募資流程的新創團隊來說,最重要的因素就是時機,可以這麼說,時機就是一切。站在投資人的角度,總是希望在最具前景的領域,投資最具前景的新創。新手創業者應該在獲得 Traction、簽下新客戶,或是當 MVP (Minimum Viable Product) 得到市場驗證時,就開始啟動募資流程。創業者展示出的成果,以及吸引外界對新創成長的期待越少,投資人為了消除不確定性,願意提供的募資條件就越差,除非你過往已有成功的創業經驗或是出場紀錄。從更宏觀的角度來看,創投傾向投資於正在發生的典範轉移,所以隨時準備好這個問題:為什麼投資人現在要投資?為什麼是你? 

3. 聘請高明的律師

另一個經常困擾新手創業者的問題,是尋找優秀的法律顧問。在發展中市場,創業者通常無法只靠律師,就可以談判出最佳利益。事實上,除了舊金山灣區 (Bay Area) 之外,新創產業的規模或收益,都不足以支持聚焦在此領域的專業律師族群獲得更好的報酬,因此在新興市場中,創投的投資案,通常不會是律師行業的最優先業務。在為創業者建構募資的交易過程,律師通常只是短暫性的功能角色,重點只在為客戶贏得一些紙上的內容,一旦交易完成,律師就會將重心移往下一個客戶。

對投資人和創業者來說,首度募資的第一份投資協議,只是一個開始。因為新創往後每一輪向投資人尋求募資,都會再增加一層複雜性,這有賴建構在扎實的基礎上,而第一份投資協議就是得以讓新創持續發展的基礎,接受一份糟糕的投資協議,就像是想在貧瘠的土地上建造高樓,地基不穩固終究是搖搖欲墜,而律師在當中的角色至關重要。

4. 了解 Vesting (股票授予) 的價值

新手創業者最常誤解的條款之一,則是 Vesting (股票授予) 協議,指創業者必須在一段時間後,才能永久持有的股票,通常為 4 年。許多創業者問我,為什麼需要 Vesting 機制?通常是因為擔心投資人可能會在這過程中,嘗試更換創業團隊拿下主導權。Vesting 是一種業內普遍的實務作法,作為一種機制,可以在創業者和投資人之間,建立起共同著眼未來的激勵和一致性,因為投資人希望創辦人能長期參與公司的經營,以獎勵他們對公司的貢獻,Vesting 也可避免當創業者生涯規劃發生變化,不得不離開公司時,造成局外人持有大量股權、進而產生經營亂流的情形。

我發現與 Vesting 相關的問題,最常出現在只有一位創辦人的新創,當中存在重大的關鍵人物 (Key-man) 風險;擁有多位共同創辦人的新創,往往會有 Vesting 條款。如果沒有 Vesting 條款,突然決定中途離開的共同創辦人,將可以很容易帶走他們的股份。我就看過這樣的例子,由於一位共同創辦人決定跳槽,40% 的股權對經營毫無貢獻,其他共同創辦人與投資人,在公司所有權上幾乎沒有迴旋調整的空間。關於創辦人 Vesting 更完整的解釋,可參考這篇文章

5. 警覺非常見的條款

在業內最佳實務做法上,創業者如果不夠理解,有些不常見的條款,可能會使創業者處於不利的地位。例如,投資人可以嘗試獲得創業者提供過份慷慨的否決權,一旦新創希望透過啟動新一輪的募資來維持營運,這就可能會有影響,我曾看過因為某位新創的投資人,運用否決權否決了新一輪募資,因為投資人認為這家新創,可以用更高的價格來募資,最終結果募資不順,不得不倒閉。為了緩解這類問題,對創業者來說,仔細安排你的股權結構表,並避免同意非必要的強大少數否決權,這非常重要,除非你認為實際情況確實需要這些設計。

還有更多對創業者不利的條款。有些投資人,可能會強制要求創業者做出不公平的保證,例如,要求創業者對預期之外的課稅,或是隨後的公司費用承擔個人責任。基本上,創業者不需要對誠信 (Integrity) 或受託人義務 (Fiduciary Duty) 以外的相關問題負責。然而,非常見條款通常是針對非常見的情況而制定,每筆交易都各有不同的背景與條件,因此,創業者請務必全面了解自身的狀況,並相對應地調整條款。

更值得注意的,在創投更加稀缺的新興或前沿市場,一些投資人 (通常是某些來自傳統背景的投資人),在股權結構上,可能會將創業者視為替投資人打工的員工,只擁有相對少數的股權,決策權在擁有多數股權的投資人手上。當然,的確有創業者需要投資人提供這種程度的參與或引導,但在多數情況下,這類的投資人,通常會對公司運作的每一個細節進行微觀管理,在創意自由、彈性與控制上,幾乎沒有留下足夠的空間給創業者。身為創業者,要先了解你希望是哪一種投資人投資你。

結論:經營長線的賽局

與矽谷等成熟市場相比,新興市場的投資協議有什麼不同嗎?倒也不盡然。總的來說,現在是有一致的全球標準作法與協議條款,然而,每個市場與行業中,都有自己的獨特條件,需要投資人與創業者彼此進行因應調整。例如,當地的投資人,可能更了解當地政府的監管規範,或更了解當地文化,進而與創業者達成更符合實際情況、對新創更有利的投資協議。

歸根究底,投資協議只是一個創業者與投資人之間的合作框架。對創業者來說,更重要的是能否了解未來 5 到 10 年內,直到幫助他完全退場前,必須要與這位投資人綁在一起,最好是充分合作,否則也不要互相拖累,進而以此為考量來設定條款。過去 10 年中,台灣和東南亞的創業者,財務知識有顯著提高,投資人普遍也已遵循了全球實務準則,為了贏得更多競爭的投資案,過去常見的過時苛刻條件多半消失了。

AppWorks,我們期待與創業者從早期展開合作 (所以才叫之初!),引導新手創業者更全面了解投資協議,並確保創業者能因此獲得更為長期的成功。對投資人與創業者來說,投資協議不應該是個我贏就代表你輸的零和賽局,隨著生態系更加成熟,市場自然會過濾掉那些不良條款,進而發展出更健全的投資人與創業者關係,促進更多優質的投資與創新。(本文由 AppWorks 合夥人詹德弘撰寫、媒體公關總監李欣岳編譯,原文為:Five Fundraising Tips for First-time Founders)

【歡迎所有 Web3 / DAO、AI / IoT 以及目標 Southeast Asia 的創業者,加入專為你們服務的 AppWorks Accelerator

Photo by Razvan Chisu from Unsplash

Why We Invested: Cardin Campbell, Founder and CEO of Trac Technologies

Jack An, Analyst (安良方 / 分析師)

Jack is an Analyst covering AppWorks Accelerator. Before joining the team, he was a co-founder and early team member at two InsurTech startups, where he developed a passion in user experience and product development. Previous to his startup journey he worked as a commercial property underwriter at Chubb Insurance in New Zealand. Jack graduated with a Bachelor of Music from Waikato University where he studied classical piano. He loves to cook, read and is a practicing stoic.

The world of digital ownership is being transformed by the emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). These unique digital assets have opened up new possibilities for creators and collectors across a wide range of industries, but arguably none more so than the music business.

The music industry has a long history of conflict over asset ownership and the transfer of value produced by selling or playing the song. This should come as no surprise given the value chain’s fragmentation and opacity that was built over the years to distribute music worldwide. However, as the industry gradually consolidates and is consumed by its digital self, there is an opportunity to establish a transparent ownership and value distribution pipeline through the use of blockchain and NFTs. Ultimately, this makes it easier for artists and creatives to receive proper attribution and incentivization for their work.

That’s why we are excited to back Cardin Campbell, the founder and CEO of Trac, recognizing the potential of Trac to shape the future of the music industry and create new opportunities for musicians to monetize art and control their careers.

From musician to founder

Cardin experienced the hardships that musicians face personally as an aspiring musical talent in his youth. Music, as the major product and the center of the artistry, would generally only earn a tiny royalty distribution, making a sustainable career difficult. With no transparency into the royalties system, musicians must rely on touring and merchandise sales to fund their art, which for many is an additional responsibility that often prevents exceptional musicians from being able to make music full time.

Cardin was urged to follow a career in software engineering instead, owing to his secondary interests in programming and product development. Hebuilt his career in the valley and held multiple senior engineering roles across Intel, Nike, Expedia, and Peloton. Through all of this, Cardin never lost his love for music, and when his own son decided to pursue a career as a professional musician, he decided it was time to bring what he had learned in tech and roll up his sleeves to build Trac – a digital platform that takes care of everything else that is not related to creating music, so artists can focus more of their time on their craft.

“Sign yourself, be your own label”

Trac enables musicians to publish their music on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and others, as well as sketch, order, and sell products, and analyze their streaming/listener data to better understand their fans. Labels or agents are traditionally hired to address these vexing duties. However, with Trac, musicians of all levels now can easily access such tools and execute time-consuming work effortlessly.

Cardin and his team are also constructing the pipelines required to assist artists in exploring NFTs. Due to the ease of which NFTs can be tracked and confirmed on blockchain networks, it can readily determine who owns a specific NFT and distribute royalties accordingly. This has the potential to establish a highly transparent and equitable royalty payment system, benefiting musicians who provide the core product but struggle to earn their fair share due to various intermediaries in the current system.

Giving power back to the musicians

Trac is still in its early stages, but the potential for what it can do for musicians around the world is enormously exciting. Trac has the potential to make a huge influence on the music business by assisting musicians in taking charge of their own careers and monetizing their talent. And as more musicians use NFTs and other digital ownership technologies, the possibilities for Trac are truly boundless. We are thrilled to be a part of this adventure and look forward to seeing where Trac leads the industry in the future.

At AppWorks, we look for great founders who are building on new technologies such as web3 to innovate and solve real world problems. We’re honored to have the privilege to partner with Cardin and his team at Trac as they continue to break new ground at the forefront of helping musicians across the globe take control of their career.

[If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with web3 and AI / IoT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the largest founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.]

Why We Invested: James Key, Co-founder and CEO of Autonomy Network

David Wu, Associate (吳戴文 / 投資經理)

David is an Associate mainly focused on investments. He previously lived in the US, but was drawn to the Greater Southeast Asia region by the growth opportunities and the wonderful people here. He spent the first five years of his career as a consultant at IBM, where he became intimately familiar with the enterprise software and services needs of Fortune 500 companies. Later, he focused on building predictive models and solving optimization problems for large companies, and gained an appreciation for the role of data and algorithms in our lives. He joined AppWorks in 2020 after receiving his MBA from Columbia Business School, and also has a B.S. in Mathematics from the Ohio State University. In his free time, he tries to stay active and is always looking for opportunities to hike or trek, often seeking the trail less traveled.

NFTs have finally burst into the mainstream consciousness in the last year after spending a few years simmering underneath the surface as critical infrastructure was built out. This followed a DeFi boom after a similar infrastructure-building phase.

Today, essential groundwork is being built to unlock tomorrow’s use cases and utilities in NFTs, gaming, and DeFi, which will bring about new classes of assets and activity. On-chain sentient NFTs, non-player characters (NPCs) in gaming, and automated financial transactions in DeFi are just some of the things that can be unlocked through “decentralized automation”. 

We are proud to announce our investment into Autonomy Network, a decentralized automation protocol that unlocks these brand new use cases in web3. Despite their name, smart contracts have limited intelligence, and Autonomy aims to bring them to life. The founder behind Autonomy is James Key, one of the most impressive young founders we have met.

A determined decentralist on a mission

When we first met James in the interview for our accelerator program last year, it didn’t take long to be impressed by this 25-year-old’s strong passion and devotion to his craft. We recognized this was a genuine life calling for him and he would stop at nothing to accomplish his dreams. 

Based in Berlin, James was a university student not long ago, completing the last year of his physics degree while working in a quantum computing lab on the cutting edge of physics. Though it was interesting work, the pace was slow compared to the other itch he had – crypto. James took leave to work on blockchain forensics, including for the FBI, and when the university asked him to either come back or drop out, he made the easy choice to do the latter and pursue his interests further, including stablecoins and cross-chain bridging. 

The draw of crypto would have been natural to James at a young age. As a child, when his parents installed child locks on his computer, James found a way to hack the locks  – despite having no previous interest in hacking. So, when he read about censorship-resistant currencies years later, it was a natural curiosity and easy sell. 

During the next few years working for other blockchain projects, there was another itch, growing every day – to start his own company and serve this glaring need he had recognized in the market, all without compromising on decentralization (something he had witnessed working on other projects and could not accept on principle).

After working on it on the side for some time, he emptied his vacation days and coded nonstop for two weeks. At the end of it, he faced the choice of either giving up on this idea or going all in – building a team and becoming a founder. Again, he made the easy choice, and Autonomy Network was born.

Fully enabling DeFi smart contracts

Due to the nature of smart contracts needing to be called by an outside party, critical use cases in DeFi have been missing, such as stop and limit orders, automatic liquidity provisioning, and automatic self-liquidations in a completely decentralized, non-custom, composable manner. 

This is especially essential in DeFi, as crypto markets are 24/7, fast-moving, and volatile. 

Autonomy Network has built a fully composable, decentralized network of bots that can perform any action when an arbitrary condition is met. Users register requests, bots monitor the network state, and a proof-of-stake algorithm determines which bot can execute the request and collect a reward. The team has already begun integrating with major DEXes with some more big names on the way.

Other features like recurring payments are also being developed, but perhaps the most exciting is autonomous NFTs.

Sentient NFTs, a new form of life

With autonomous NFTs, a non-human and non-human-controlled entity can execute their own transactions on a blockchain using Autonomy Network. They can vote, trade, send messages, play against you in a game, buy other NFTs, upgrade its own logic, and even have offspring by minting aNFTs of itself. 

The ultimate goal, as James puts it, is to create the first blockchain-based citizen in the UAE. But for now, the team is working on NPCs for major metaverse applications and its first blockchain game, MetaDungeon, in which users can fight NPCs and claim (or lose) real assets depending on the result. 

We’re excited to support James on this mission, through all of the twists and turns and ups and downs. At AppWorks, we make big, bold bets on potentially industry-changing founders and are honored to have the privilege of putting our faith in the drive, vision, and execution of James, his co-founder Diego Chui, and the entire Autonomy team.

[If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with web3 / DAO, and AI / IoT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the leading founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.]

Social Crypto Investing Platform Kikitrade Raises $6M Strategic Round, Co-led by AppWorks and Media Asia

Sean Tao, co-founder and CEO of Kikitrade

Editor’s note: We’re excited to join Kikitrade’s mission to bring social investing to the public in Asia. The press release from Kikitrade is below:

Asia’s leading one-stop cryptocurrency and social investment platform Kikitrade announced the company has completed a $6 million strategic round, co-led by AppWorks and Media Asia (SEHK: 8075) with participation from Audeo Ventures and existing shareholders. This round of funding follows a $12 million investment led by internationally renowned investors Dragonfly Capital and Alan Howard last summer, bringing the total funds raised in the past 12 months to $18 million. 

The fresh funding is led by AppWorks, a leading venture capital firm and accelerator in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. It manages 3 venture capital funds with a total size of $212 million and is also the world’s second largest institutional investor of FLOW Tokens.  Another investor Audeo Ventures is a venture capital firm with a global aspiration, focusing on fintech, consumer tech, and blockchain, it is also an investor of a crypto financial services platform BlockFi. 

Media Asia is Asia leading entertainment group , a member of Lai Sun Development Company Ltd under the chairmanship of Dr. Peter Lam. The principal business of Media Asia include artiste management, production and distribution of series of films ,TV programs, music and concerts , The group has won countless awards and honors over the years, including blockbuster movies “Infernal Affairs Trilogy” and “Initial D” etc.  Recently, Media Asia has become a strategic partner with Tencent and established its new media, social commerce and virtual entertainment products. 

With this investment, Media Asia will enter a strategic partnership with Kikitrade, and form a joint venture to launch “Kiki NFT Platform”.  With ever richer resources, the joint venture will drive the integration of creative industries and blockchain technology, aiming at building a new era of entertainment for Generation Z.

Lures Top Investors To Drive Mass Crypto Adoption

Kikitrade has reinvented the crypto investing experience by making its platform social-driven. “SocialFi” investment model allows the public to gain more benefits through their own social and community influences, such as asking onboarding questions and participating in community voting activities to win tokens or NFT airdrops, and turns Kikitrade into crypto investors’ go-to place. At present, Kikitrade has served more than 200,000 users from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and Australia.

Ching Tseng, Web3 Principal of AppWorks said: “AppWorks is committed to supporting the most promising startups and helping accelerate their to incremental growth through cross-pollination with our ecosystem of 435 active companies. Kikitrade is built from the ground up based on the founding team’s unique insights on “social investing”. We believe that is the future of finance, not only for cryptocurrencies, but also for the entire spectrum of  investment. Kikitrade has a great potential to drive innovation across investing communities.”

CT Yip, Executive Director of Media Asia said: “Media Asia has been achieving breakthrough developments in the fast growing digital entertainment field, which has become a new normal. The Group looks forward to cooperating with Kikitrade to meet the entertainment demands from the new generations, accelerate digitalization, and curate the best virtual entertainment experiences to Asian users.”

Pasha Tinkov, Managing Director at Audeo Ventures said: “Kikitrade is at the forefront of integrating crypto investing with a dedicated social platform. Audeo Ventures is delighted to join hands with world-renowned investors in supporting Kikitrade’s new funding round and is confident in its management’s capacity to materialize their growth plans.”

Sean Tao, co-founder and CEO of Kikitrade, said: “The strategic investors introduced this time will enrich Kikitrade’s resources in the “social investment” and Social-Fi avenues, and effectively help Kikitrade expand its international market. We will continue to make it easier for the general public to understand cryptocurrencies and develop a sense of camaraderie in the community, so that crypto investing is no longer lonely.”

Taking Social Investing To Next Level

The funds raised this time will be deployed to expand into new international markets. The company had its foray to the Middle East last year, it is planning to enter the wider Southeast Asian markets this year. In addition, Kikitrade plans to strengthen its development team to 100 people and deliver more product innovations to bring users a better SocialFi experience. The company also plans to introduce hundreds of key opinion leaders (KOLs), media, and cryptocurrency exchanges’ CEOs to the platform to interact with the community, and makes investing ever more interactive and fun.

About Kikitrade 

Kikitrade is Asia’s leading one-stop social investing platform that allows beginners to purchase and manage digital assets at ease. The company was founded in 2020 by Everest Ventures Group (EVG), a Web 3 focused venture studio, and received US$12 million in funding after launching in 2021.

Investors include British hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard, renowned blockchain venture capital fund Dragonfly Capital, co-founder of Ethereum Joseph Lubin, and Chairman of Head & shoulders Financial Group Stanley Choi, etc.Animoca Brands, a blockchain game giant with a valuation of more than $5 billion, is Kikitrade’s second largest shareholder. Yat Siu, co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, is also the chairman of Kikitrade’s board of directors.

The Kikitrade community has garnered more than 100 investment analysts, key opinion leaders (KOLs), cryptocurrency ventures’ CEOs, etc, who have been actively sharing unique insights and latest analysis on the social investing platform, making the community one of the most vibrant in Asia.

Learn more: www.kikitrade.com

[If you are a founder working on a startup in SEA, or working with AI, Blockchain, and NFT, apply to AppWorks Accelerator to join the leading founder community in Greater Southeast Asia.]

 

Andy Tsai ~ 我在 AppWorks 的四年,咻一ㄟ丟貴去啊~~

Andy Tsai, Partner (蔡欣翰 / 合夥人)

負責投資與基金管理。帶著超過 10 年創投經驗,於 2018 年加入 AppWorks,2019 年升任合夥人。先前主要服務於 CID 華威國際、最高擔任至投資副總裁,熱愛和團隊一起思考營運模式與競爭策略的解謎活動,更早之前短暫就職於中華開發負責產業研究。政治大學財管碩士,嗜好是旅遊和滑雪。

雖然在 AppWorks 的四年,咻一ㄟ丟貴去啊,但在整個 AppWorks 生態系的歷史長河裡,還是有好多團隊跟好朋友們沒機會好好認識,藉這個發文來介紹自己。我是 Andy,在 AppWorks 擔任合夥人,我已投身創投產業超過 15 年,如果有各式疑難雜症,歡迎隨時來找我一起集思廣益。 

硬體到軟體 / Centralized 到 Decentralizing / 實體到虛擬 / 原物料到元宇宙

在加入 AppWorks 之前,其實比較常接觸的產業,是台灣的科技硬體公司。但即使在硬體產業找新創公司的投資機會,也明顯地感受到軟體的重要性越來越高。從全球的角度來看,全世界最高市值的公司早已由傳統、電腦產業,明顯轉向 AMAAT*。軟體更是提升硬體效率的有效方式,還記得有段時間看到有趣的科技新創,多是 Software defined XXX,打破單純由硬體控制的設計方式,有效地大幅提升產品效能跟可能性,這也讓我對於軟體在台灣還有哪些可能性,充滿了好奇心。加入 AppWorks 之後,除了以 AI / IoT、Blockchain、GSEA 數位經濟新創公司為主修之外,還很幸運的在 Web3 應用落地的初期階段,就有機會在海景第一排,欣賞到新一波科技大浪潮的到來。

掃地僧:籌資、投資、再到投後

回顧一路走來的工作經驗,經常轉換頭上要戴的帽子,似乎是最大的特色。做過創投基金籌資,跟所有新創團隊一樣,在談判桌上坐在投資人對面,推測跟回答投資人所關注的問題,過程通常跟新創公司的籌資過程相似,包括面對投資人源源不斷的 Q&A,以及思考誰是關鍵的決策者,或是潛在 Deal Breaker 等問題;做過新創投資案,用最高成長曲線的期待,拷問過不少的創業者,不過覺得這部分最有趣的,是長期觀察新創團隊的成長,曾經見過的團隊,後來歷經籌資、打磨產品、創辦人變更,一件一件都映在心裡,雖然不會參與到所遇到的每一家新創的投資,但也是很開心可以在不同階段認識創業者,甚至看到晉升獨角獸的過程。

投資後管理,戴的又是另一種帽子。希望在團隊鎖定的產品市場上,從產業廣度上提供看法跟觀點,協助新創可以少繞點路,或是可以看到更有效的市場進入方法,當然最重要的是,讓團隊在嘗試新產品、新市場的過程,降低失敗後的風險。曾經遇過最棘手的案例,是投資案的經營團隊,因為產品開發的方向,忽略了市場及客戶的評估,但由於佔公司一半人力的新產品線,始終找不到 PMF,在協助公司重新調整方向的過程中,由我去擔任交接期的董事長,上任第一天的重點工作,是必須砍掉一半的人力,始終還記得那些為著這個產品努力,卻必須面對資遣夥伴們的眼淚,回想起來,過程中有許多可以及早改變的做法,也默默在心中希望不要再讓類似的問題重演。積累這幾年的參與過程,應該有一些經驗談可以跟各位創業者交流分享,也希望能有效提供幫助,並歡迎一起研討以及探索各個產業的破關秘訣。

Long term thinking

隨著年歲漸長,覺得最重要的事情,應該就是要有長期思維。面對生活、工作、人生的難題,好像常常很容易只關注到短期的緊急任務,然而,長期的策略思考,往往可以讓人突然有豁然開朗的想法。好比,想要猜測接下來一週的天氣跟溫度,大概率是很難猜對的,但春夏秋冬的氣候,考量過去的歷史,是相對很容易判斷的。如果,很幸運的一切都順風順水,也 Echo 我們大家長 Jamie (林之晨、AppWorks 董事長暨合夥人) 經常呼籲的,以長期思維的角度,要培養健身的習慣,累積健康的本錢,也是人生很重要的一項關鍵指標。

PS. 因為年歲漸長,雖然人臉辨識的功能沒有衰退太多,但記名字功能的處理器速度緩慢,如果打招呼的時候,沒有直接喊出您的名字,還請多多包涵呀!

*AMAAT = Apple、Microsoft、Alphabet、Amazon 與 Tesla,是目前全球 5 家超過 1 兆美元市值的科技企業。